Abu-al-Malik

Abu-al-Malik (646-8 October 705) was the Caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate from 685 to 705, succeeding Marwan I and preceding al-Walid I.

Biography
Abu-al-Malik was born in 646, the son of Caliph Marwan I and Aisha bint Mwauyia ibn Al-Mughira. He was a Sunni Muslim Bedouin, and was born in Medina. During his reign as Caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate from 685 to 705, all important records were translated into Arabic, and for the first time a special currency for the Muslim world was minted. Abu-al-Malik went to war with Justinian II of Byzantium, Emperor of the Byzantine Empire, and his half-brother Muhammad ibn Marwan defeated the Byzantines at the 692 Battle of Sebastopolis after a large contingent of Slavs in the Byzantine army defected. When he died in 705, he was succeeded by al-Walid I.